GROUND RENTS BILL
MARSHALLED LIST OF AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED AT CONSIDERATION STAGE ON MONDAY 29 JANUARY 2001
Amendments given up to and including Thursday 25 January 2001
The Bill will be considered in the following order-
Clauses, Schedules, Long Title
Amendment 1 [Made]
Clause 3, Page 3, Line 42
at end insert —
'(9) Section 2 does not apply to the conveyance or transfer of a dwelling-house to—
(a) the Northern Ireland Co-ownership Housing Association; or
(b) any other housing association (within the meaning of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (NI 15)) specified by an order made by the Department for Social Development subject to negative resolution.'
Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 2 [Made]
Clause 6, Page 5, Line 33
leave out 'issue out of the Consolidated Fund and'
Mr Mark Durkan, Minister, Department of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 3 [Made]
Clause 15, Page 10, Line 27
at end add 'and any provision in the instrument providing for an estate acquired by the mortgagor to be held in trust for the mortgagee or appointing the mortgagee as the mortgagor's attorney in relation to such estate applies to the fee simple'
Mr Mark Durkan, Minister, Department of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 4 [Made]
Clause 15, Page 10, Line 38
leave out subsection (3)
Mr Mark Durkan, Minister, Department of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 5 [Made]
Clause 16, Page 12, Line 6
leave out from 'his' to end of line 11 and insert 'other participants in a relevant building scheme immediately before the redemption of the ground rent by virtue of that scheme.'
Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 6 [Made]
Clause 16, Page 12, Line 11
at end insert—
'(j) any covenant, not falling within any of the preceding paragraphs, which is contained in a lease granted by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive before 10th January 2000 and relates—
(i) to a district heating supply provided by the Executive; or
(ii) to the repayment to the Executive of any discount of part of the purchase price under a house sales scheme made under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 (NI 15).'
Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 7 [Made]
Clause 16, Page 12, Line 26
leave out from '(2)(g)' to the end of line 28 and insert—
'(2)(i)—
"building scheme" means a scheme (express or implied) under which land (whether freehold or leasehold) is divided into two or more parcels subject to obligations which are reciprocally enforceable (whether at law or in equity) between owners of the parcels; and
"relevant building scheme", in relation to any land, means a building scheme which includes the land or which is taken to subsist in respect of the land by virtue of section 17(6).'
Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 8 [Made]
Clause 17, Page 12, Line 40
leave out 'or (h)' and insert ', (h) or (j)'
Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 9 [Made]
Clause 17, Page 13, Line 17
after 'successors' insert 'in title'
Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 10 [Made]
Clause 17, Page 13, Line 37
leave out 'same meaning as in section 16(2)(i)' and insert 'meaning given in section 16(7)'
Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 11 [Made]
Schedule 1, Page 22, Line 36
leave out 'is more than 12 years after the application date' and insert 'falls after the expiration of the relevant period'
Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 12 [Made]
Schedule 1, Page 23, Line 1
leave out from 'is 12 years' to the end of line 9 and insert 'falls within the relevant period, the yearly amount of the ground rent shall be determined in such manner as may be specified in an order under paragraph 2.
(4) In this paragraph "the relevant period", in relation to a ground rent, means the period commencing on the application date and consisting of the number of years fixed by order under paragraph 2 as the number of years purchase applicable to ground rents (or, as the case may be, applicable to ground rents of the same class or description as that ground rent).'
Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 13 [Made]
Schedule 2, Page 23, Line 34
after '35(8)' insert 'or 35A(7)'
Mr Mark Durkan, Minister, Department of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 14 [Made]
Schedule 2, Page 24, Line 12
leave out '(7) to (10)' and insert '(7), (8) and (10)'
Mr Mark Durkan, Minister, Department of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 15 [Made]
Schedule 2, Page 24, Line 18
at end insert—
'( ) After Article 35 insert—
"Redemption of nominal ground rent
35A.— (1) Subject to paragraph (2), this Article applies where the rent payable under a fee farm grant is a nominal rent.
(2) This Article does not apply at a time when—
(a) the land is used wholly for business purposes; or
(b) the rent-payer is prohibited by any term of his title from using the land otherwise than wholly for business purposes;
but land is not prevented from being used wholly for business purposes by reason only of the fact that part of it is occupied as a dwelling by a person who is required or permitted to reside there in consequence of his employment or of holding an office.
(3) The rent-payer may by deed ("the deed of declaration") declare to the effect that the ground rent is discharged and may, in accordance with rules, make application to the Registrar for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (4)(a) or (b).
(4) On an application under paragraph (3)—
(a) if the land is registered land, the deed of declaration is sufficient authority for the Registrar (subject to compliance with rules)—
(i) to discharge any burden such as is mentioned in paragraph 2 of Part I of Schedule 6 to the Land Registration Act; and
(ii) to make such alteration in the class of title with which the land is registered as appears to him to be appropriate;
(b) if the land is not registered, the Registrar may register the rent-payer's title with such class of title as appears to him to be appropriate (and until the rent-payer's title to the land is so registered, the deed of declaration has no effect);
(c) in either case, the deed of declaration is sufficient authority (notwithstanding any caution or inhibition) for the Registrar to make in the register such consequential entries, changes, cancellations or notes as appear to him to be appropriate;
(5) Except where the Registrar is satisfied that the land was subject to no or nominal superior rent on the date of execution of the deed of declaration, the Registrar shall enter on the register a note to the effect that the fee simple estate is subject to a rentcharge of so much (if any) of any superior rent as would have been redeemed by virtue of section 11(1) of the Ground Rents Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 if a ground rent to which the land was subject had been redeemed under section 1 of that Act on that date; and such a note may be discharged in accordance with rules, and it is sufficient to satisfy the Registrar as to the matter mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph that he is furnished by a solicitor with a certificate to that effect.
(6) Subject to paragraphs (4), (5) and (7), the deed of declaration operates by virtue of this paragraph to discharge the estate of the rent payer from all estates in the land of the rent-owner and any superior owners to the extent that those estates carry entitlement to ground rent or a superior rent or relate to matters connected with the rent and to that extent those estates are extinguished.
(7) Where a ground rent is discharged under this Article, section 13(8) (read with subsection (10)) and sections 15(2), 16 and 17 of the Ground Rents Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 apply in relation to the land as if the ground rent had been redeemed under that Act; and, accordingly, for the purposes of this Article those sections shall be read with the necessary modifications.
(8) For the purposes of paragraph (6) matters are connected with rent if they are concerned with the amount of the rent or its payment or recovery or are otherwise concerned (directly or indirectly) with the rent.
(9) In this Article "nominal rent" has the same meaning as in Article 35.'
Deputy Chair, Statutory Committee of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 16 [Made]
Schedule 3, Page 24, Line 29, Column 2
at end insert 'and in the definitions of "rent-owner" and "rent-payer" the words ", without prejudice to Article 32,'"
Mr Mark Durkan, Minister, Department of Finance and Personnel
Amendment 17 [Made]
Schedule 3, Page 24, Line 32, Column 2
at end insert 'Article 3(2)(a).'
Mr Mark Durkan, Minister, Department of Finance and Personnel